Packer grid



PACKER GRID Filed July 24, 1963 2 Sheets-$heet 1 vwza x Q By WW ATTORNEV A. J. WILD PAGKER GRID Sept. 13, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July24, 1963 INVENT HN TON J. lV/LD By W5 TZQZNEY United States Patent3,271,928 PACKER GRID Anton J. Wild, 968 Bonnell Court, Union, NJ. FiledJuly 24, 1963, Ser. No. 297,248 8 Claims. (Cl. '53248) This inventionrelates to packer grids and is particularly directed to novel fingermeans for use in packer grids of the type described in Patent No.3,061,820, issued May 1, 196 2, to Herman P. Schulze and Anton J. Wild.

Packer grids are employed in packaging machines, such as those shown anddescribed in Patents Nos. 2,701,085, 2,727,664 and 2,753,673 to conductand guide bottles into a crate or carton from equipment which serves tomove the bottles into a predetermined arrangement. The packer gridgenerally embodies members arranged in crossed relation to form bottleguiding channels and is provided with yieldable fingers which extenddownward at the sides of the channels to guide and retard the movementof the bottles as they pass through the grid from the arrangingmechanism to the cartons or crates. Unfortunately, the fingers of thepacker grid sometimes tend to wear and may become broken or bent in sucha way as to engage dividers in the crate or carton causing injury to thecarton or bottles. This problem is troublesome when the cartons areformed of light cardboard or other flexible material or when thedividers for any reason are not accurately positioned to receive thebottle guiding fingers. Moreover, the problem is quite serious since thefingers of the prior art packer grids have not been readily replaceable;and it has been necessary heretofore in order to replace broken ordamaged fingers, to dismantle a substantial portion of the packagingequipment. This entails considerable down time for the packagingequipment and has been an extremely costly operation.

These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the presentinvention and novel packer grid fingers are provided which are quicklyand easily replaceable Without dismantling the packaging equipment.Moreover, the fingers of the present invention are mounted in a mannerwhich permits a limited amount of lateral movement of the fingers. Thisfacilitates movement of the fingers into the corners of the bottlereceiving areas of the cartons or crates and permits greater flexibilityof the fingers for accommodating dividers which are not accuratelypositioned.

The advantages of the present invention are preferably attained Ibyproviding novel structure and mounting means for packer grid fingerswhereby the fingers are formed with a neck portion of reduced width andhaving a recess adjacent the upper end of said neck portion which isengageable by a resiliently biased pivot member to releasably secure thefinger to the packer grid. In addition, guide means are provided toassist the pivot member in releasably securing 'the finger to the packergrid and to restrict the lateral movement of the finger to predeterminedlimits.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provideimproved fingers for packer grids.

A further object of the present invention is to provide improved fingersfor packer grids which are replaceable without substantial dismantlingof the packaging equipment.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide improvedfingers for packer grids which are readily and easily replaceablewithout requiring substantial down time of the packaging equipment.

A specific object of the present invention is to provide novel fingersfor packer grids having neck portions of 3,271,928 Patented Sept. 13,1966 reduced diameter and formed with a recess adjacent the upper end ofsaid neck portion, together with resiliently biased pivot meansengageable with said recess to releasably secure said finger to saidpacker grid, and guide means for assisting said pivot member inreleasably securing said finger to said packer grid and for restrictinglateral movement of said finger to predetermined limits.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description taken with reference tothe figures of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a typical form of packer grid embodyingthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the packer grid shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective View showing a preferred method ofmounting the packer grid fingers of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a View, partly in section, taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3.

In that form of the present invention chosen for purposes ofillustration in the drawings, the packer grid embodies a framecomprising side plates 2 and end plates 4 secured together in anysuitable way to form a frame of the desired size for positioning bottlesin a carton or crate. A plurality of strips 6 extend parallel to theside plates 2 in equally spaced relation to divide the frame into adesired number of rows of bottle receiving channels, as indicate-d at 8.The bottle receiving channels 8 are defined by the downwardly andinwardly inclined flexible fingers 10 mounted on suitable supportingblocks 12 which are secured at equally spaced locations on the sideplates 2, end plates 4 and strips 6.

The supporting blocks 12 are preferably formed with a cross-sectiondefining a right triangle having the fingers 10 mounted on the equalsides thereof. Moreover, the blocks 12 are preferably tapered upwardlyand outwardly and are secured to the grid plates 2 and 4 and the strips6 by bolts 14 or other suitable means. In this way, the fingers 10 arepositioned substantially at right angles to each other, as seen in FIG.2, and are caused to project downwardly and inwardly, as seen in FIG. 1.

The fingers 10 are secured to the supporting blocks 12 by means ofmounting brackets 16, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each of themounting brackets 16 is formed of a substantially straight rigid strip18 of metal or other suitable material and is attached to the associatedsupporting block 14 by means of screws 20 or the like which also serveto retain a resilient member, such as spring 22, that extends generallyparallel to the strip 18. As best seen in FIG. 4, the fingers 10 areformed of a strip of resilient material, such as nylon, having a bodyportion 24 and a neck portion 26 of lesser width than the body portion24 and having a recess 28 provided adjacent the upper end of the neckportion 26. Each of the fingers 10 is carried by a respective one of themounting brackets 16 and are releasably attached thereto by means of apivot member 30 mounted in any suitable manner on the spring 22 andengageable with the recess 28 in the neck portion 26 of the finger 10.As best seen in FIG. 4, the attachment of the fingers 10 provided byengagement of pivot member 30 in recess 28 is somewhat pendulous andguide means 32 are preferably provided adjacent the lower extremity ofstrip 18 of the mounting bracket 16 to receive the neck portion 26 ofthe finger 10 and the lower end of spring 22. The guide means 32 servesto guide the neck portion 26 of the finger 10 to facilitate attachmentand removal of the finger 10 and also limits the lateral movement of thefinger 10, as indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 4.

With the apparatus thus described, the fingers 10 function during thepacking operation to guide bottles from the arranging apparatus into thecartons or crates in substantially the same manner as the fingers ofprior art packer grids. However, due to their pendulous attachment, thefingers 16 of the present invention are capable of substantial lateralmovement and, consequently, can accommodate cartons or crates which areinaccurately positioned with respect to the packer grid. This has notbeen possible with the devices of the prior art. Moreover, in the eventthat one of the fingers 19 becomes broken or bent, the operator canquickly and easily replace the damaged finger by depressing spring 22 soas to cause pivot member 30 to become disengaged from recess 28 of thefinger 10, and the finger 10 will then drop out due to gravity or mayreadily be withdrawn. T insert a new finger, the operator merely placesthe neck portion 26 of the new finger in the guide means 32 with therecess 28 facing toward spring 22 and shoves the finger upward untilspring 22 urges pivot member 30 into the recess 28 of the new finger.Obviously, such replacement can be accomplished in a matter of secondsand requires no dismantling of the packaging apparatus. Consequently,the down time of the packaging apparatus required for finger replacementis virtually eliminated, and the expense of such replacement isnegligible.

Obviously, numerous variations and modifications may be made Withoutdeparting from the present invention. Accordingly, it should be clearlyunderstood that the form of the invention described above and shown inthe figures of the accompanying drawing is illustrative only and is notintended to limit the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A packer grid for guiding articles from an assembly device to acontainer in a packaging machine, said packer grid comprising agenerally rectangular frame, strips of material extending in equallyspaced relation parallel to and between opposite sides of said frame, aplurality of elongated finger members formed of resilient material andarranged in positions wherein the inwardly facing surfaces thereofcooperate to define passages for guiding articles moving through thepacker grid, supporting blocks secured to said frame and strips andpresenting inwardly facing surfaces inclined upwardly and outwardly withrespect to said passages, means engaging the upwardly and outwardlyinclined surfaces of said supporting blocks and the upper portions ofsaid finger members to hold said finger members in said cooperativepositions, said finger members having lower portions thereof extendingdownwardly and inwardly below said supporting blocks, and resilientmeans secured to said supporting blocks and bearing against outwardlyfacing surfaces of the finger members for yieldably urging the lowerportions of the finger members inwardly toward said passages.

2. A packer grid as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient meansextend downwardly below said supporting blocks and bear against thefinger members at points below the supporting blocks.

3. A packer grid as defined in claim 1 wherein said finger members arepivotally movable about their point of support and with respect to saidsupporting blocks upon engagement of an article or receptacle with thelower end portions of the finger members.

4. A packer grid for guiding bottles from an assembly device to acontainer in a packaging machine, said grid comprising a rectangularframe, strips of material extending in equally spaced relation parallelto opposite sides of said frame, a plurality of elongated. fingermembers formed of resilient material, a plurality of supporting blocksmounted at equally spaced positions on said frame and said strips, atleast one mounting bracket secured to each of said blocks and formed ofa strip of rigid material, a strip of resilient means secured betweensaid bracket and said block and extending generally parallel to saidbracket, and means urged by said resilient means and engageable with oneof said fingers to releasably secure said one of said fingers to saidgrid.

5. A packer grid for guiding bottles from an assembly device to acontainer in a packaging machine, said grid comprising a rectangularframe, strips of material extending in equally spaced relation parallelto opposite sides of said frame, a plurality of elongated finger membersformed of resilient material and having a body portion and a neckportion, a recess formed in said neck portion, a plurality of supportingblocks mounted at equally spaced positions on said frame and saidstrips, at least one mounting bracket secured to each of said blocks andformed of a strip of rigid material, a strip of resilient means securedbetween said bracket and said block and extending generally parallel tosaid bracket, and means urged by said resilient means and engageablewith the recess in the neck portion of one of said fingers to releasablysecure said one of said fingers to said grid.

6. A packer grid for guiding bottles from an assembly device to acontainer in a packaging machine, said grid comprising a rectangularframe, strips of material extending in equally spaced relation parallelto opposite sides of said frame, a plurality of supporting blocksmounted at equally spaced positions on said frame and said strips, saidblocks being generally right triangular in cross-section and having atleast one upwardly and outwardly inclined surface, a mounting bracketsecured to said surface and formed of a strip of rigid material, a stripof resilient means secured between said bracket and said surface andextending generally parallel to said bracket, an elongated finger memberformed of resilient material and having a body portion and a neckportion with a recess formed in said neck portion, and means urged bysaid resilient means and engageable with said recess to resilientlysecure said finger to said grid.

7. Means for releasably securing fingers in a packer grid, said meanscomprising a supporting block mounted on said grid, said 'block havingat least one upwardly and outwardly tapered surface, a mounting bracketsecured to said surface, said bracket being formed of a substantiallystraight rigid strip of material, a strip of resilient material securedbetween said bracket and said block and extending generally parallel tosaid bracket, and means carried by said resilient means and engageablewith a packer finger to releasably secure said finger to said grid.

8. Apparatus for releasably securing fingers on a packer grid, saidmeans comprising a supporting block mounted on said grid, said blockhaving at least one upwardly and outwardly inclined surface, a mountingbracket secured to said surface and formed of a strip of substantiallystraight strip of rigid material, a strip of resilient material securedbetween said bracket and said surface and extending generally parallelto said bracket, means carried by said resilient means and engageablewith a packer finger to releasably grip said finger between saidresilient means and said bracket while permitting lateral movement ofsaid finger, and guide means carried by bracket to restrict lateralmovement of said finger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,031,820 5/1962Schulze et al 53-247 FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner. R. L. FARRIS,Assistant Examiner.

1. A PACKER GRID FOR GUIDING ARTICLES FROM AN ASSEMBLY DEVICE TO ACONTAINER IN A PACKAGING MACHINE, SAID PACKER GRID COMPRISING AGENERALLY RECTANGULAR FRAME, STRIPS OF MATERIAL EXTENDING IN EQUALLYSPACED RELATION PARALLEL TO AND BETWEEN OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FRAME, APLURALITY OF ELONGATED FINGER MEMBERS FORMED OF RESILIENT MATERIAL ANDARRANGED IN POSITIONS WHEREIN THE INWARDLY FACING SURFACES THEREOFCOOPERATE TO DEFINE PASSAGES FOR GUIDING ARTICLES MOVING THROUGH THEPACKER GRID, SUPPORTING BLOCKS SECURED TO SAID FRAME AND STRIPS ANDPRESENTING INWARDLY FACING SURFACES INCLINED UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY WITHRESPECT TO SAID PASSAGES, MEANS ENGAGING THE UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLYINCLINED SURFACES OF SAID SUPPORTING BLOCKS AND THE UPPER PORTIONS OFSAID FINGER MEMBERS TO HOLD SAID FINGER MEMBERS IN SAID COOPERATIVEPOSITIONS, SAID FINGER MEMBERS HAVING LOWER PORTIONS THEREOF EXTENDINGDOWNWARDLY AND INWARDLY BELOW SAID SUPPORTING BLOCKS, AND RESILIENTMEANS SECURED TO SAID SUPPORTING BLOCKS AND BEARING AGAINST OUTWARDLYFACING SURFACES OF THE FINGER MEMBERS FOR YIELDABLY URGING THE LOWERPORTIONS OF THE FINGER MEMBERS INWARDLY TOWARD SAID PASSAGES.